"The superior man is catholic and no partizan. The mean man is a partizan and not catholic." (君子周而不比、小人比而不周。) ─ Confucius, The Analects, 2.XIV, translation by James Legge.

Friday, September 3, 2010

World Trade Organization vs. Local Alcohol

"Taiwan found recently that World Trade Organization (WTO) membership can be a pain in the proverbial when it announced a drastic tax cut on locally brewed rice wine," reports Jens Kastner — Taiwan in a rice wine stew. "Taipei's intention to halve the bottle price of home-produced rice wine did not go down well with the United States and the European Union (EU), the biggest exporters of alcoholic beverages to the Taiwanese market," the report continues. "Both Washington and Brussels allege that after the tax cut the local liquor will become an unfair competitor to imported whisky, cognac and brandy."